From pest control to shadow ministry: Is Howarth qualified?

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton announced a new-look shadow ministry on Tuesday afternoon, finally filling the gap left in the financial services portfolio following Stuart Robert’s retirement from politics last year.

While Angus Taylor retained his position as shadow treasurer, the assistant treasurer and shadow financial services minister will now be Luke Howarth.

That may not be a name familiar to many within the sector, so who exactly is Luke Howarth?

Having been first elected to the seat of Petrie in Queensland in 2013, Howarth had made his way into an assistant minister role by 2019.

Under the final term of the Morrison government, he served as assistant minister for community housing, homelessness and community services for 18 months, and then as assistant minister for youth and employment services.

In opposition, he shifted across to the defence portfolio, serving under Andrew Hastie as both shadow minister for defence industry and defence personnel.

Not a lot of financial services experience so far in his political career.

Despite this, Dutton spruiked the new shadow minister’s understanding that “small business is the backbone of the Australian economy”.

Dutton has announced that Luke Howarth will serve as both shadow assistant treasurer and shadow financial services minister.

“He has previously run a family business before entering Parliament and has a strong understanding of the financial pressures many Australians are currently experiencing under the government’s cost-of-living crisis,” the Opposition Leader said in a statement.

“Luke will bring his strong command of retail economics to this important role.”

This family business experience Dutton referred to was in a family-owned pest control business based in Redcliffe, Queensland, which he bought into and joined as director following his departure from Sony in 2001.

The ifa readership quickly identified that among the qualifications listed on the Parliament website is a Certificate III in pest management, noting that this could come in handy in Canberra.

Among his other notable certifications listed on the Parliament site are a black belt in judo, a scuba diving qualification, and a diploma of business.

Howarth made headlines a few times over his time in Parliament, notably when, early in his tenure as homelessness minister, he expressed his desire to “put a positive spin” on the homelessness crisis.

Facebook comments extolling the virtues of pork-barrelling in the lead-up to the last federal election also got people talking.

“I pork barrel my electorate all the time, that’s my job to deliver as much as possible for our area,” Howarth wrote on Facebook in response to an accusation of pork barrelling.

“You will see me deliver more as well for local community groups and infrastructure.”

Not backing down, he told Daily Mail Australia at the time: “I’ll never apologise for getting money for my electorate.”

Perhaps he will bring this same level of verve to advocating for his financial services portfolio.

For its part, the Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) welcomed the new appointment in a statement on Wednesday morning, noting a desire to engage with the new shadow minister.

“We congratulate Luke Howarth on his appointment as shadow assistant treasurer and shadow minister for financial services,” FAAA chief executive Sarah Abood said.

“This is a critically important portfolio at a time when more Australians than ever need access to high quality and affordable financial advice.

“We look forward to engaging with the shadow minister on the many current regulatory matters in our space, including the Quality of Advice Review reforms and addressing the escalating costs to provide financial advice.”

Association of Independently Owned Financial Professionals (AIOFP) executive director Peter Johnston expressed a similar sentiment.

“We welcome Luke to our industry and look forward to discussing the important issues that will lower the cost of advice for consumers and allow our profession to flourish,” Johnston told ifa.

It’s too early to tell what the focus for the new shadow minister will be and where he will fall on the issues impacting advisers. However, if he falls in line with the existing rhetoric from the opposition, a full implementation of the QAR and utilising superannuation to buy a house will be at the forefront of his messaging.